FIC: Q is for Queen 1/4 (SGA)
AR-1’s diplomatic visit to the world named Norent took a hard right turn when a Wraith Hive arrived for a Cull. Within hours, the Capital was in disarray and dozens of people had vanished.
The four Atlanteans were visibly furious as they strode into the Council Chambers to find a Wraith lieutenant on the communications screen, hissing out how many more would be taken.
John stepped up beside the cowed Premier. “I am Colonel John Sheppard of Atlantis. We demand an audience with your queen.”
The Wraith’s dark eyes blinked in visible shock. Then it made that strange noise that John knew was laughter. “Very well.”
The numbing cold of a Culling Beam hit AR-1, and then Ronon and Rodney began to swear loudly in several languages. John lost count at five.
“John,” Teyla softly asked, voice clipped, after her own bout of soft swearing, “have you a plan?”
John looked around the cell they had been deposited in. “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a plan. Rodney, come here.”
Rodney sighed as he walked over to stand beside John. “Why am I suddenly your go-to weapon?”
Ronon answered, “Because unlike us, you’re the one whose physical weapons can’t ever be taken away. And you’re always armed.”
Rodney made a non-commital grunt in reply, shaking his head. Then he asked John, “What do you need?”
“A key,” John said, pointing at the biometric lock to their cell.
Sighing, Rodney reached between the bars. His wrist pulsed and a thin strand of crystal formed, arcing through the air and landing on the lock. Rodney closed his eyes and thickened the crystal for several seconds.
Then the bars suddenly retracted upward, freeing the team. Rodney stepped forward and pulled out the crystal knob, dissolving the excess but leaving a handle, and handed it to Ronon. “You’ve got an hour,” he informed the Satedan.
Ronon nodded and he and Teyla took off down the row of cells.
John nodded. “Let’s go.” And as they jogged through the halls, he outlined his plan.
“You’re a sadist,” Rodney growled.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, I’ll do it. How do you know it’ll work? She’s a queen.”
“But she’s still female,” John pointed out. “I’ve seen my ladies - even the most hardened Marines - pause for a split-second at something pretty.”
Rodney speared him with a glare. “That is quite possibly the most sexist thing that’s ever come out of your mouth.”
“Nope - just a statement of fact. My men tend to do it, too - but in non-humans, it seems the females tend to be the ones to pause.” He froze outside a door. “We’re here. Ready?”
Rodney gave a sigh that seemed to come from his toes. “Not in the slightest. So let’s do this.”
John spared him a quick grin, then he nodded and stepped back as Rodney applied a bolt of crystal to the door controls.
They entered a Bridge in chaos. Drones were swarming, lieutenants were hissing orders - and at its center was a seated Queen, snarling her clear displeasure.
The lieutenant standing by the Queen saw them. Its eyes shifted from them to the Queen - and then it ordered the drones down to the cells and the maintenance bays.
John and Rodney looked at each other, then back at the room, which had emptied of all but the Queen and two lieutenants in mere seconds.
The second lieutenant snarled, “Why did you -”
“There has been an escape,” the first snarled at the other. “They are needed there!”
“You have crossed -” it began, only to be shot by a disruptor. As it died, the first lieutenant acted as if the Atlanteans had only just arrived, pointing the still-smoking disruptor at the pair and drawing the notice of the Queen.
ON TO PART TWO